Simplicity and its Faults
by Reigning Fyre
Summary: Takes place right after the new movie of Live Free or Die Hard. The resulting mess of McClane's emotions and how Matt ties into it all. Can this grown man, hardened cop, and father learn how to deal with a punk like Farrell?
1. Chapter 1

So, I've decided that I'm in LOVE with the Die Hard movies. Especially "Live Free or Die Hard". I'm a sucker for all the tech stuff AND Bruce Willis. I mean really, who doesn't love the older men with the bald heads? I honestly think, they are by far, the hottest people around::laughs like a moron:: But seriously, this movie was GREAT and now I'm going to write some fanfiction! I can't wait to see what this turns out to be, but you can probably already tell by my first chapter! Oh, all the chapters in this story are going to be short, seeing as this is going to be a short story because it really doesn't have anywhere to go. The chapters are more like time blocks for you all to get your heads in the right places. Good luck!

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_**Simplicity and its Faults**_

_Chapter One  
_

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John McClane was a simple man. He liked his coffee black, he liked his six and a half hours of sleep (if that much), and he liked his guns loaded. John McClane did not like, however, confusion. Confusion, and anyone looking at his daughter. Other than that, he could deal with mostly everything that gets in his way. By taking it out and beating it or shooting it. Simple really. Well, it was simple until someone by the name of Matthew Farrell stepped into his life.

On one hand, the boy was a genius. Given that he was clumsy albeit good with people anyways. Most young men that had the brain capacity of Matt as well as the clumsy nature, tended to stick to themselves and did not get involved with anything other than their own whims. Sadly, their own whims is what normally gets them into trouble. With Matt, it was just that. Luckily Matt was able to help John and become a little more self assured and confident that he could be more than the smart guy with legs that wouldn't listen to him.

Yes, John McClane liked his coffee black, but he couldn't understand the puzzle of Matt Farrell.

"Matt!" John grunted out in a slightly pained voice.

"Yeah?" A younger, and higher pitched voice answers.

"Where 're ya?" the older man asked in a sleepy voice still pained from the stitches being strained.

"The other side of the curtain. I think, I mean I can't tell really…" the younger man, Matt said as he starts to mumble to himself.

"Matt? You still hopped up on that morphine?" John asks soundly concerned.

"I dunno? I mean, I can feel my leg but if I touch it like this…it don't hurt!" The voice coming over the curtain that John can now see, sounds amazed at the fact.

"What do you mean, touch it? What are you doing?" The older man looks incredously at the curtain, what would the foolish young man be doing to his healing body?

"Just touching it. A little. I mean, I'm just poking it. Oh, I don't think it's supposed to bleed though." Says the very unconcerned Matt, which concerns our infamous NYPD cop more than usual.

"Then don't TOUCH it Matt! You're supposed to let it heal!" John says angrily, ripping the curtain back to glare angrily at the younger man.

"Sorry, sorry! It's fine see!" Matt points to his still mangled leg.

"No, it's not fine! You got shot!" John rubs his temples, trying to will away the headache that was on a fire line for his brain.

"But scars are cool…you said so!" Matt reacts with a child like response.

"Just…don't touch it again!" the hardened city cop fixes Matt with an icy glare.

"Alright, alright." Matt agrees while pouting.

"Good. Thanks." John returns to his earlier silence. Contemplating why he found this new character in his life so confusing and frustrating to him.

The boy had no common sense when it came to danger and he was a risk to the nation for being an accomplice to the most huge terrosit threat to happen to the nation on record so far. Sadly, he was an unknowing accomplice for the attacke. Still, it would earn him some time in jail or a lot of time in house arrest. The poor kid was still that, just a kid. John didn't know how to deal with the fact that he was so young and was already condemned to a life of questioning and guilt for all the lives he had disrupted and for all the terror that had been caused.

John was also more than willing to bet that Matt would limp for the rest of his life as well as be in pain from the gun wound. The bullet had ripped through bone, muscle, tendons, and other important features of his body that made his knee. It would be a miracle for him to walk with out a can or a crutch for the rest of his life, at that. John was lucky this time, his shoulder would ache almost constantly but he could still function and work with the pain. Matt, was doomed one way or another.

Sighing angrily, John looks to the ceiling as if it would have answers before hearing a sleepy voice call out to him.

"John? Thanks for…..for saving my life and stuff. Like all the time…and letting me come wiff you man." The voice says, getting softer and softer as the speaker tires and starts to let syllables and pronunciation get away from him.

"Yeah…not a problem kid." John responds, feeling his heart beat a little more painfully in his chest.

The young man was so innocent, so naïve to the ways of the world. He was so absent of the knowledge that he would be put out for the public to point at and for everyone to blame for the breach in the US's defense system.

John felt himself give a little under the knowledge that this young man, this boy, in fact would soon be nothing but a shell. A scared and lost shell of a man that was once brilliant and courageous. John looked over again at the now sleeping man.

"Not a problem at all." Saying it quietly, tracing the other's face with his eyes. It would be a long stay at this hospital, if nothing else

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	2. Chapter 2

Oooohkay? So I took a poll of who wanted slash between John and Matt and got a count of THREE. Two votes were hard to understand which they wanted. And another two for Matt and Lucy. So, you guys need to send in an OFFICIAL vote on what you want and then we'll see how it turns out. So, at the moment it's LEANING towards slash, but in the end….It might go the other way so I haven't made it one way or the other but it's leaning. Save it if you wish.

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_**Simplicity and its Faults**_

_Chapter Two  
_

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Waking with a start, John instantly felt for his gun at his side table. Swiping at air, it threw him off and he creaked dangerously towards the side. Heart thumping from the sudden knowledge that he wasn't at home, he let his eyes start to take in the scenery. White all around him.

'Oh yeah.' He thought to himself. He was in a hospital. A place where death and sickness filled its halls and rooms.

"Nnngg…" a low moan shuddered from the bed next to him. Looking over, John could see the faint visage of the younger man who was stuck in this hell hole. Matt looked as if he were caught up in his thin sheets and couldn't free himself.

A childish pout covered his features and he struggled. He was still asleep but John shook his head. He would have to wake up to get out of that mess. It was possible that the other was having a night mare, but he wasn't screaming so it probably wasn't that bad.

"Shut up." John grunted softly, not really meaning the words. He wanted to sleep more, but it was impossible seeing as the sun was already starting to climb in the navy blue sky.

"Great." He never liked to wake this early but now that he had, he had nothing to do seeing as he was mostly a cripple anyway. The normal hospital staff wouldn't be in until around eight thirty or so, so he had about three hours to entertain himself.

"Hhhnnn.." another breathy sound emitted from his room partner. The kid really was a loud sleeper.

John MacClane began to muscle his way into a sitting position. How he wished he could still smoke. Sighing loudly, he realized that even if he did still smoke, he couldn't because he was in a hospital. Stupid society and its rules.

"Mmmngh!" Came another loud groan from the bed next to him. John glared at the sleeping male and tried to decide if it was worth it to stand and strangle Matt himself or to wait and have another patient do it.

Feeling a sudden ache in his shoulder that steadily grew into a throb of pain, he scrabbled for the button next to his bed. Finding the small grey switch, he pressed it heavily and was rewarded with a flood of drugs into his system. His body had been so torn up by the heavy war-like conditions that it was starting to come out of shock only now. It was possible that the aches and pains from before is what woke him.

With a wince, John lay back down and stared at the ceiling. What would he do about Matt? The guy was only a kid compared to him and he had no where to go. His home had been destroyed by the national terrorists. The Government would probably take weeks, maybe even months to find him another home. Usually, Matt would probably go stay with his friends, but with his connection to the terrorists, the Government would probably want him on a short leash. Able to come when called.

John felt his eyes slid shut as he realized what the only answer was to this predicament. Really, it was actually quite simple

He'd have to take in the college student. The young man would have to live at his place until this whole thing could work itself over. It was actually the perfect solution too. There was a cop to keep an eye on things, he was close to the central hub of command, and he got a roof over his head while the Government figured out if they were going to rebuild his place, and do it, or if they were going to pay him off. Either way, it would take a while.

Giving a huge groan that ended in a sleepy sigh, John closed his eyes, and laced his fingers together over his chest. Really, he was so smart at some times, he couldn't stand it. Lifting his twined hands over his head and behind it, John wondered where he would stick Matt.

He didn't have a guest room and he didn't want the lean male to sleep on the coach for a month of maybe more. That was just inhumane. He was booked for space already with Lucy coming over again but with another person in the house, let alone a guy who had more than a lot of stuff, he just didn't have the room.

Wanting to turn over and rest, John grumped at how it hurt to even move his arms that much. He was supposed to be a hardened and lively cop but no. He had to be confided to this god-aweful bed and told that he wasn't to move unless ABSOLUTELY necessary. John was simple. All he wanted was more sleep. Sadly, nothing in John's life was simple. Everything was way to complicated and way to blown up in proportion to how he'd like it.

Later that day, John wondered if he could die from embarrassment. He'd been poked, prodded, touched, felt, examined and finally diagnosed. He'd come to a total of three broken bones, five cracked bones, a few major bruises and a couple dozen minor ones, a little bit of internal bleeding, a fair bit of external bleeding, and a couple of gashes that required a mere 57 stitches and 13 staples. All in all, it was a good day. The bones he'd broken were two ribs and a collar bone while the ones he cracked were another two ribs, his right femur, and three bones in his left hand.

Right,

It was a wonderful war story to tell indeed. He couldn't feel any of the pain that his body said it should have but that was due to the wonderful thing called 'Morphine'. John had also gotten to show his bum to a doctor who'd wanted to go through his entire musculature to check for ripped tendons and when he'd mentioned that he'd slid down a roughly thirty feet of freeway, he'd insisted that John reveal himself. With much complaining, and a promise of a drink on the house, John did so. Finding the man in perfect health, the doctor had been on his way.

Normally, this wouldn't be so bad but the fact that his soon-to-be ward was sitting right next to him the entire time and laughing up a storm, begged to differ.

"Don't you know, you should shut the hell up?" John asked nonchalantly.

"Nope, I find this quite hilarious! The big bad police officer, having to go through an entire work through from the hospital staff! Nothing could be better!" Matt threw back his head and guffawed loudly.

"Yeah, yeah. You have a weird way of getting off you freak." John spoke a tad warmly to the other. If it wasn't him in the situation, he would probably laugh right along side the young man.

"Heh, well… I'm just trying to prepare for my long and painful journey to surgery yah? It's going to be rough." Matt replied with a sadness that came only from the knowledge that a great deal of pain was imminent.

"Yeah? What'd the doc's think of your leg anyways?" John asked, finding it strange that he even cared.

"Well, they think I'll be able to walk, but really slowly. No more running for a loooooong time apparently. I also might be able to walk with a cane only. They said that my shin bone was apparently shattered and the muscles torn and ligaments basically are non-existent. I don't have a lot of feeling in my toes either which could mean that the nerves are all messed up too. It's pretty bad." Matt looked unsure for a moment before pasting the happy smile over his face again.

"But it's okay! I'll be able to look and feel like House! Most amazing doctor, this side of television has ever seen anyways!" Matt laughed that fake laugh that grated on everybody's ears and John looked away.

It was his fault that the man had gotten shot. It was his fault that he might never be able to skate board, or run, or snowboard or anything else for that matter. It was his fault that he would have to put up with pain and degrading physical exercises that would probably take most of his young life. It was his fault that the man had even gotten mixed up with all this.

It make John feel that much older that he hadn't been able to help one guy under his care. Under his protection. He felt guilt settle around his shoulders like a new found friend that would never let go.

"John?" Matt inquired, tilting his head, as if he could see into John's downcast face more clearly.

"Yeah?" He answered, looking up.

John stared at the other. Here was a young man, in the prime of his youth, who was literally shot down. He would have to have the courage and the strength of dozens to get through what was to come. The dark haired, wiry young man was in for the change of a lifetime and only John would be there for him. It was up to him to help the other through this difficult time in his life and he wasn't sure that he was up for it.

"What is it?" John asked, wondering how he should be taking all this.

"So your daughter, Lucy…..Why's she not here yet?" Matt asked, with a pained expression. Like he'd already blown it, and they'd not said more than twenty words to each other.

"Well, Matt, there is this thing called 'school'. Did you ever attend? It's quite the pastime." John sarcastically badgered his roommate.

"Hardy har har. You're hilarious." Matt grumped over the fact that a forty-something year old man was making him feel about two feet tall.

"I know. I'm priceless." John smirked. He liked getting the better of the techno geek. It was actually a prize to see Matt fail at something. He'd always been ragging on John about how 'behind' he was with mechanics or how 'outdated' he was with software. Really, how much could one care, if you only had about two hours a night to eat, make nice with family, and blow off the worries of the day?

"Hardly." Matt responded with a snooty sniff.

The younger man cringed as he reached for his leg. Not touching it, he tried to figure out how to stem the pain from the fragments of his leg without accidentally causing more.

"You going to be alright?" John asked, looking faintly worried. He knew that this was a huge mess, but his first priority was to figure out if Matt could make it through the procedure he was scheduled. John was starting to think that he would take it upon himself to become the protector of this strange and technologically involved guy.

"Oh yeah. I'll be dandy." Matt replied cynically and hissed as his leg sent a bright shooting pain through him. His tendons and muscles were on the fritz due to the drugs that he was being injected with so that the surgery would go smoother.

The surgeons would have to go into his leg and rebuild the bone out of almost nothing. They would have to start reattaching tendons and muscles with plastic and metal bits that would help hold the organics to the new leg bone. It would be a long and painful process for him because they would also have to take out some of his calf muscle so they could rebuild the bone. This would cause the physical therapy to begin walking again, be that much more painful.

John winced as he thought that all of this pain and hassle was all due to him. If only he had been smart enough to not drag a man of his age and inexperience through an ordeal that dangerous.

"Matt, it's time for your surgery. Are you ready?" a doctor asked, dressed in white and looking just that professional.

"Yeah…I guess." Matt looked towards John and saw the flicker of fear.

"I expect you back alright? I fuckin' hate quitters." John glared at the other. Honestly, if Matt didn't come back, John didn't know how he'd ever be able to forgive himself.

'What would Lucy think?' he thought to himself.

A cold weight settled over his chest like a stone. He had a terrible feeling of displacement and fear. Matt had to come back. It wasn't plausible for him to die in surgery, but still…John couldn't contain the irrationality of his thoughts.

"Right. It's only surgery." Matt was wheeled away and John was left with his crazy thoughts and the blank ceiling. It would make for a great combination.

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	3. Chapter 3

So, I know you guys have been waiting a while for this chapter and I apologize for the long wait. I've currently just found a man that I'd like to have in my life a little more than 'just friends' ya know? So I'm concentrating on him and fanfiction has taken a bit of a beating for it. Sorry. OH, and this story will be SLASH, but for this next chapter, it won't be. This'll be the last chapter that is platonic, so enjoy it while it lasts if you wanted it to be platonic. Those that wanted slash, congrats, yah convinced me. ::stows the bribe money:: So yeah! On we go! 83

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_**Simplicity and its Faults**_

_Chapter Three_

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Matt knew intellectually that he was in surgery. He in his right mind knew that he was on drugs to help stay away from the pain. Even so, it hurt like a mother fucker. He was half awake, or what seemed like half awake for the entire surgery. He also felt his mouth moving while he was 'under' and always had the inkling that he was speaking but probably not making any sense.

At times, he saw clearly that his doctors where diligently working on his mangled leg. He knew that he shouldn't distract them, but he did. He asked what they were doing, and then they would ignore him. He would ask why they were hurting him so much, and they pretended he wasn't there. It hurt him that they wouldn't listen to him but he knew that they couldn't actually hear him. The doctors surrounding him were in a low but constant conversation. It would randomly switch between something that had nothing to do with him and then on a turn of a dime it would switch to something about him and how they could prevent something, or something was to hard to fix, or even that he was 'to young to see this kind of injury'.

Matt wasn't sure why, but it irked him that the doctors that were helping him, were filled with so much pity for him. Really, he didn't want that kind of help if they were only doing it out of their own self absorbed thoughts on how he 'needed' it.

Matt lay still. He felt like he wanted to move and get away from the antiseptics, the needles, the clamps, the shiny metal things, the dull coloured tubes, but he knew he needed it all. So, he let his mind wander and he let his entire body float into a more comfortable exhaustion and place where it only hurt a little but he could almost ignore it.

* * *

The older you get, the more experience you're supposed to earn. But really, when it comes right down to it, you don't learn much at all. In fact, you really only learn how to pretend you know what's going on around you. This becomes very apparent when people are put under stress or they are put into a situation they don't know how to handle. John was trained and made to look in control at all times and so he was. According to the people who thought they knew him.

Really though, John's just as human as the rest of the people in the world if not more so. He laughed, he loved, and he cried. Not that he was proud of any of it but it was necessary to stay at a 'human' level of things. Once or twice John might have thought himself a monster but that was only when he felt the joy of wanting to kill someone in cold blood run through him. Granted, it was more than just once or twice but it was less than that of someone who would actually kill someone.

He was John McClane. He was the man in charge and in control.

Sadly, hospitals like to turn everything you know upside down and inside out. They like to squeeze out your deepest secrets and pinch out every little thing that has ever happened to you. That's why the white walls seem to turn ever single person there into a bleeding heart. Not John though. He remained steadfast and strong as crying children, crying adults, and even the crying elderly waltzed through the room. He stoically looked on as if he were imitating a statue.

The only time that he flinched was when he heard Matt's name mentioned over the intercom. It had cracked and fizzled at first about something to do with bone reconstruction and plastics to be ordered to a certain room ASAP. They mentioned it as bypass that the room would have Matt's name across it.

John felt the crows feet at his eyes crinkle and deepen just a bit more as the muscles on his face clenched in anxiety. What was the point of worrying so? Why did it matter that he was so attached to this strange young man when he had been so utterly careless with him? It wasn't like he was even in a life or death situation. All that was happening was surgery on his leg and that had a very, very small percentage chance of him dying.

"Nurse, could I get some water?" He leaned over to one of the young ladies who looked 'just happy to be here!'.

"Of course!" She chirped happily and scurried off to fetch him what he had asked.

Really, this place was an abomination.

John lay there on his bed, feeling bad for himself and feeling like he just wanted out. Honestly, how much more pitiful could one get?

"Here you are! Please make sure to recycle the plastic!" The chipper nurse added as she handed him a lukewarm bottle of water.

"…thanks." John winced inwardly at the temperature of the water. How damn hard was it to keep water for the patients cold? Who ever liked to drink lukewarm anything must be completely insane.

"No problem!" Chipper Nurse all but skipped off. John wasn't going to make a huge effort to dispose of his water bottle properly but he would make sure to remember to not give a damn if he did.

John was all for saving the Earth and all, but when people got in your face and bugged you about made him want to punch something or someone really hard. You know the feeling, when you just feel like self-righteous expression off of anyone who felt they were better or knew better than you.

"Matt, need ya back to keep me from going insane man." John choked to himself and opened the cap with a faint pop.

"I'm seriously going to loose it." John threw back a gulp of lukewarm water and frowned. It tasted disgusting.

* * *

"--------" Matt winced as he heard something near his ear. He couldn't make it out but he could tell that someone was trying to get his attention.

"----att. Matt!" Matt twitched and breathed in suddenly, causing the person near his ear to jerk back a bit.

"Jesus Matt! You're going to give me a hear attack!" the familiar gruff voice wheezed out.

"Mmnnn," he groaned unhappily and turned his head, only to wince in pain as his bandages were pulled.

"Matt? You awake man?" the voice came back, closer again.

"uuuuhn. Wass the matter?" Matt slurred out, confused as to why he was awake and why he couldn't feel anything beneath his ribcage.

"Nothing, just trying to see if you're living or not." John shrugged off his hours of concern with a rough sentence, hiding the emotion behind a gruff whisper.

"'m fine…." Matt yawned and let his head fall heavily to the side as the drugs quickly took over his system once more.

John stared down at the unconscious young man and sighed. He was more trouble than his daughter and more innocent than most. It was disturbing how much someone of what seemed like no significance could affect his life. He'd had years of life and death experiences. The things he had faced ranged from terrorist, to airport take over's, and anything else you could think of. John leaned back into his own bed, hissing his breath in through his teeth. The pain not nearly as distracting as his own mind, running itself in circles and back again.

"Get better soon John. We gotta find out what all this means." John whispered to himself, falling into a restless sleep.

* * *

Turning restlessly Matt laid against the scratchy hospital blanket and scrunched his eyes unhappily. He hated being here, he hated the drugs, and he had really hated the surgery. Wait, the surgery? Matt shot up in bed, eyes wide open and looked around. He was in a more private room than he remembered. He remembered the surgery and the pain and everything else. Looking around he could see that half of the room was cut off from his view by a large curtain that split the room. He couldn't see past the clouded plastic, but he could guess who else was there by the curses he could hear.

"Damn! You think you could rip some more of my skin out?!" The course voice complained loudly.

"Sir, we have to ensure that you're healing properly. That means we have to change the bandages at least once a day and apply new antibiotics." A smoother female voice replied as if she'd explained this thousands of times. She probably had, on the other hand though.

"Fuck! You might be a little more gentle though! DAMMIT! Stop pulling! Let me do it!" Matt winced as his older male friend cursed and grumbled under his breath.

"That's not wise-" the female started to say before Matt heard a small sound like that of plastic and fiber being forced away from skin.

"NNNNGH." A pained groan ripped through the curtain and Matt felt pity for the man.

Apparently the nurse or doctor hadn't been getting the bandage off right and John was sick of her pussy-footing around. He had wanted it off so that the pain could start to lessen more before it could get worse with her just slowly going at it.

"You alright John?" Matt asked tentatively, face clenched in a worried expression.

"Matt? Is that you? Fuck, I'm alright. Just fuckin' sick of this crap." The gruff older man mumbled before the nurse ripped the plastic curtain open to reveal the other half of the room. The short haired brunette nurse scowled unhappily at nothing in particular while she pushed the curtain back to it's normal position. John let out a grimace that Matt supposed was a smile.

"So you're not dead. Nurse-What'sherface over there wouldn't tell me." John glared at his personal devil here in the hospital.

"I told you over and over Mr. McClane. The personal health of our young charge over there," She paused here to point at Matt who got a surprised look in response, "Is none of your business. We went along with your demands to be placed in the same room but it was getting a little over the top when you kept calling the other nurses and myself to ask for the heart rate of Matt. If it had dropped below sixty we would have been notified. It was all that we could do to keep you from having an anxiety attack and having to strap you to your bed." The nurse was panting with exertion on trying not to explode at the man she was fuming at.

"Man, John. You really know how to piss people off." Matt chuckled. No one could piss people off like John could. He had a natural knack on how to push people's buttons that would make them want to just explode and reek havoc upon the living world.

"It's a gift." John watched the nurse walk out haughtily. He eyed her like he wanted to take a bite out of her and not the fun kind of bite.

"I'll bet…Anyways, why were you so worried about me John? It was only surgery on a broken leg…" Matt left the rest of the sentence open to the other's interpretation.

"Well, you never know." A strange expression covered the older man's face as he answered. "you could have developed a blood clot or something. Hospitals are supposed to be really dangerous because of super diseases and stuff." John looked away, hiding the expression so that Matt couldn't interpret it.

"Were you really that messed up? Man, I thought I was worried just now when you were getting your big band aids changed." Matt choked up a laugh, trying to lighten the mood.

"Hmm…." John's face was turned away from Matt and he fell silent. Feeling faintly silly and faintly ridiculous, Matt turned back to his own bed. Itching at his new cast, Matt tried to think of something to say. He didn't know a lot about the man laying next to him. The man who had saved his life multiple times and even after the whole experience still looked after him like it was ingrained into him. As if it was something that he had no control over, like it was a compulsion.

"Dunno really. Just couldn't relax." John shrugged and Matt felt his face heat up slightly. It was absurd but at the same time he was immensely flattered. A man of such strength and durability was worried about him. It was more than most would ever do for him.

"Thank you." Matt said softly, hoping he wasn't as red as he felt.

"…no problem." John replied just as soft, still tense but the air in the room was noticeably lighter and Matt smiled. Everything would be as normal as it could be, soon enough.

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	4. Chapter 4

Soooo, apparently I should update this story. If you people are a little antsy that I don't update as much as you'd like, you're more than welcome to actually pay me to do it. I do commissions for art, I'm more than willing to do it for fanfiction as well. Give me some incentive here people, I'm a poor college student for Christ's sake!

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_**Simplicity and its Faults**_

_Chapter Four_

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John was shaken awake rudely by the same nurse that liked to rip out his skin and hair. "Mr. McClane. Mr McClane! You need to wake up!" the nurse's eyes were unnaturally wide.

"What, What!?" he grumped unhappily and looked around blearily. His eyes naturally set upon the young charge in the bed over.

"Is Matt alright!? Is he dying?" John asked quickly, heart beginning to race.

"What? No, no! It's not about him, but….you…you're a cop right?" the nurse bit at her nail, looking around with her stressed out eyes.

"Yeah, why?" John felt his very bones ache in response to the relief. He didn't understand quite why he felt so happy about the good news, but he didn't want to think about that at this moment in time.

"Well, I just heard an explosion. What should I do!?" she cringed, looking towards the one small window in the room.

"An explosion? You should call 911 then. Not wake up a recovering cop who can't walk." John stared at her as if she were an alien. Really, who would even think to wake up the ward of a hospital when something as big as explosion could get them panicking and hurt themselves even more.

"Oh, yes. Yes I will!" the nurse flipped out a pink small rectangular shape. Flicking it open, she made the familiar 9-1-1 punchs with her manicured nail.

"Hello? Police department?" her voice faded as she walked into the other part of the room.

"Damn." John felt his tendons pull and stretch as his tired body protested the rude wake up call in the middle of the night.

"Wait-a-minute…" John looked to the watch on his arm. Cursing the heavens, John made a foul comment about the stupidity of the nurse. It was three in the freakin' morning and she was hearing explosions.

"Explosions? Couldn't that be serious?" John heard a small and familiar voice.

"It's nothing. Someone probably dropped something heavy upstairs." John reassured Matt.

"I guess. Still, it's interesting enough to wake up." Matt yawned groggily.

"Why? You should be sleeping." The older man glared at the younger.

"Meh, I can go for days on as little as four hours of sleep for at least two weeks." Matt shrugged.

"Why in God's name would you want to do that?" John asked, almost aghast at the very idea.

"Hello? College finals? They literally suck the life right out of your body." Matt shook his head in disgust.

"You? Studying for a final? I can hardly believe that." John made a rude sound with his mouth.

"Oh, I wasn't studying. I was uploading the cheat sheets to other students who were 'studying'. I made bank off of that." Matt said smugly, settling into his sheets with a cocky grin.

"You sneaky little bastard. You know that's illegal." John laughed, giving the other a fake scowl.

"Yeah, but you love me to much to care don'cha?" Matt stuck his tongue out at the other.

"Cheeky lil'shit." John laughed at the other's antics. His heart had stuttered to a halt when the other mentioned 'love'. His lungs seemed to small and his stomach seemed to disappear.

It was an innocuous statement in itself but when Matt smiled and said that, John felt his very being twist into parts. This was not a normal thing to happen. Not in the slightest. These thoughts were not simple and he hated the fact that he would have to really buckle down and figure his shit out but not now. Not when Matt was laughing at him and calling him a grouch.

"Well, I am going to try and get some sleep." John turned over with a grunt of stinging pain. He wanted to sort out these strange thoughts and get them stowed safely away by the time morning came. He was up for a physical then and might be allowed to walk around freely if he did well.

"Alright you old man." Matt chuckled to himself and proceeded to clink around getting his ipod out with his earphones. He was probably going to listen to more of his noise-music and play solitaire if John knew the kid as well as he knew he did.

John lay there in the semi-darkness, listening to the low hum of music coming from the other side of the room and the rhythmic soft clicking of the other pressing the middle button and scrolling through the cards. John could all but see the hands skimming the small metal device, fingernails chewed carelessly, cuticles barely there, skin tight and young. He didn't understand why he could imagine it all so clearly, he just wanted to erase it from his mind. The last time he'd felt like he could memorize a person like this was his daughter when he first held her. She was so small and perfect. The warm feeling that filled him then was different than the stuttering heat that simmered and flared deep in his chest.

His daughter brought out a fierce protective streak in him, causing him to make a few rash decisions. What Matt pulled from the grizzled man was something he had no name for. Something deeper and more primal. Not more powerful than his love for his daughter or the respect for his ex-wife, but something different. John had categories for everything. Family, Friends, Higher Ups, Lower Downs, Equals, Strangers, and so on and so forth. Matt didn't fit in any where to John. He couldn't see the other as family, he was to much of a brat. He wasn't a friend, nor was he work relate. Well, not in an employee sense. He wasn't a stranger, he wasn't anything. Matt didn't have a category and that just messed with John. What was Matt to him? What did the man mean to him?

"Hnph." John snorted loudly and closed his eyes. He didn't want to care this night.

* * *

Matt stole a glance over to the older man who was trying to sleep. He was such a kill-joy. It was part of his charm but it still confused Matt. Who could ever be so grumpy all the time? HE was the one with a mangled leg along with other scrapes and bruises! Yeah, he was shot through a lot more tissue but come ON!

The brunette cracked his neck while still staring down at his ipod. John was the type of guy who picked on Matt for his interests and such. The school yard fights with bullies who would take his tech and grind their dirty boots into it while Matt would cry and scream for them to stop. Matt frowned grimly.

He hated school.

The reason he was so intelligent wasn't just a gift, it was something he worked on all the time. He passed all the tests with flying colours so he could just not come to school some days. When he was covered in bruises and cuts from the others, he would just stay home, wrapped in his covers. Trying to hide away from the world, Matt shut out everyone so they couldn't find him.

Shaking off the depression that was settling around him like a large snake, Matt refocused on his game. Seeing that it said "Game Won!" he started another round. Old stories were meant for the past. He didn't have time to deal with old hurts and past regrets.

Matt settled down into his bed more firmly. He grimaced as his iPod flickered. He'd have to check the hardrive again. He'd replaced the iPod nano's hard drive with something of his own creation to boost the power a bit more. It wasn't exactly an iPhone but that was what he was going to mess with next. He wanted to install a few new accessories to the iPhone but his text was the nano. His nano could now care 20 gigs of music, pictures, and whatever junk he felt like. The screen was tiny but he could deal with that. Contacts came in helpful when you were constantly looking at small lettering.

A new song started and Matt busied himself with tapping away at the nano, winning every game with small taps and round about movements with his thumb. He was bored and he wasn't learning. The man liked to learn constantly which is why he usually had the TV on and it was usually set onto the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, Animal Planet, or Discovery Health. He enjoyed the background sound as well as the information streaming through him.

Hearing a grunt, Matt looked up to see John shift a bit in his bed and settle down again. Sometimes, the man looked like an overgrown grizzly. Angry looking but fuzzy no matter what. The right person could hug and squeeze them but any one else would be ripped to shreds. Thinking of that, Matt wondered why he wasn't a pile of mush yet. The man had some real restraint when it came down to it. Matt would have freaked out during the kidnapping session and would have tried reasoning with the other to release all of them for money or what not.

John had kept level headed and even shot himself to kill the 'bad guy'. He was a hero in Matt's eyes. Matt smiled softly at the grizzly. He wasn't so bad.

"Hurry hurry! We have to get a blood transfusion! He's B+ Doctor," the young man heard from down the hallway. He could hear the squeaking wheels to a gurney and the frantic tap tap tap of a pair of expensive leather shoes. He could hear nurses murmuring as the bed was pushed into the ward next to his.

"Yes nurse, please prepare the IV. I'll start with the stitches." The doctor's voice commanded over the softer female nurses.

"I don't need this! My car! Is it alright? It's not hurt, is it!?" A voice asked frantically and a bit too loudly. It was a sign that there might be some damage to his ear drums, Matt thought offhandedly.

"Son, we have to patch you up first. You'll be in the hospital for at least a few days, sit down now." The Doctor scolded what sounded like a teenager.

Another pair of voices spoke up from the hallway just outside of Matt and John's doorway.

"Honey, he'll be alright. It was just a minor car crash. Don't worry!" Matt heard an older man's voice soothe another.

"Oh, but the blood! There's so much!" A shrill cry started into hysterics.

"Most of it was just gas. Don't worry Judy, he'll be fine. He was even asking about his car, can you believe it! He was asking if the car was 'hurt' Judy. He'll be fine if he can be worried about that hunk of metal." The man said in a matter of fact tone.

"I know, but..." The woman's voice dissolved into tears and nonsensical words.

Matt tried to peer into the hallway to see the speakers. Parents. It was the basis of a home and of a family. A pair of people who wanted to raise children together. A pair of people who wanted something more in their lives than just a home and a relationship. Matt smiled grimly as he remembered his own family and family home. So long ago it seemed. He couldn't remember when he smiled to big or when he had laughed so hard and so honestly.

Matt's face fell as he remembered home. His home. It was gone. All of his stuff, his priceless treasures. Models, collectibles, DVDs, computer tech, games, game tech, everything was gone. His world was nothing. He didn't even have an ID. No insurance information, no car (not like he had one to start with, but still.), no money. Matt would have to start from scratch.

Wincing and letting his arms drop slowly, Matt stared blankly into the space above his bed. What would he do? He could bunk with a buddy but being so closely watched by the police probably wasn't going to get him too far. He couldn't afford a hotel much less an apartment, nor could he think of going homeless. Eye lids closing even slower, Matt realized the tough decision he was going to have to make. His parents weren't alive anymore and he hadn't spoken to his sister in over ten years.

Where would he live?

Where would he go?

Matt felt his muscles do lax as sleep started to overtake him. Dread filling him, Matt felt the nightmares start.

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

I was inspired to write some more on this fanfic because I just went out and saw "Eagle Eye". It really reminded me of Die Hard and I really liked it. It had a lot of action sequences that looked a lot like Die Hard. Also, the Secretary of Defense looks a little bit like Bruce Willis.

* * *

**_Simplicity and its Faults_**

_Chapter Five_

* * *

John groaned. He kept hearing moaning and crying. Something was pushing on his mind, something important. It involved a person, it involved feelings.

"Nng!" a cry came from in the same room he was in.

"Quiet…" he moaned uselessly. His voice cracked and he winced at the dry throaty cough that his words caused.

"A-ah!!" the voice whimpered again.

John's foggy brain started to process the information that was coming to him. He was still in the hospital, and he was in the room with-

"Matt?" He started to sit up, wincing as the muscles pulled at his gun shot wound. The healing tissue screamed in agony as he tried to get his feet.

"Matt?" he tried again, his eyes fuzzy with pain now. Feeling his way over to the other's bed he tried to ignore the pain radiating through his body. He felt the metal of the bar that jutted out from the bed and he clung to it for support.

Reaching out, John tried to find Matt in the what seemed like a huge bed. Getting a handful of dark hair, John followed it to the other's face. "Matt, Matt!" John tried to shake the other's head to get him to acknowledge reality.

John felt his eyes clear a little as the pain in his shoulder seemed to dull a little bit from staying still for a moment. Seeing Matt's face scrunched up into an expression of fear, John felt his brows crinkle down in a frown. What was this kid terrorizing over? The fear was gone he thought, Matt didn't seem like the type of guy who would antagonize over situations after they were dealt with but he could be wrong.

"Matt!" John clutched the other's chin with his fingers, turning the younger man to face him. "Wake up dammit! You're dreaming!" John had just about enough of this wiggling and squirreling around.

"A-ah!" Matt opened his eyes with a flinch of his shoulders.

"John?" Matt gasped in a night fogged voice. "Wh-what's going on?" he looked around the room with his limited vision considering his face was still being held by the other.

"You were thrashing around in bed. Woke me up." John grumbled, letting go of Matt with a brief glare.

"Oh. Uhm, sorry man." Matt apologized, a faint blush dusting his cheeks.

"S'alright. What's wrong with you?" John moved the metal bar down from the bed and set himself on the side of Matt's bed with a deep sigh. He didn't feel like standing for too long, his body seemed weak enough already.

"Oh, I….I was just dreaming." Matt turned away, eyes closed.

"Right, and I'm a fucking tap dancer. What's got you so worked up? Your blood sugar or something?" John remembered how Matt complained about his sugar level in the car earlier that day. Or was it two days ago? Any how, he was prone to get lethargic and other such crap if he didn't get his ten square meals a day or something like that.

"No. I'm just…ya know, worried." Matt sat up, sighing himself, looking ten years older than the healthy twenty seven he was.

"…about what? Stop dodging." John hated the word games. Simplicity was his friend, remember?

"I just. I don't have anywhere to live after I get out of here. It freaks me out a bit, I guess. To live on the streets and all." Matt tried to wave off the words as if it was a buzzing fly that was easily moved on.

"…" John stared at the other. In a flash, he understood where the kid was coming from. His apartment was in shambles. It would be a police death zone for months and all of his stuff was destroyed. John looked thoughtful for a moment and then smirked.

"Why are you worrying? You'll be living with me of course." John said simply.

"Wait, What? I can't impose on you like that!" Matt quickly tried to argue with his older friend.

"Impose? I'm a single middle aged man with a house. I've got more than enough space for you, me, and a few more if need be. If anything, you'll be helping me out too. I can't do a lot of lifting or bending and you can. I'll be the legs, and you can be the torso. We'll help each other out ya know?" John grinned at Matt, reassuring him that it would work out no matter what the other said.

"But, that's not….I-" Matt tried to find a way to convey the discomfort of invading the other's house.

"Don't worry, Lucy moved out to her own apartment years ago. Said that "twenty three was the time to leave" or some nonsense." John looked out to the slowly brightening sky.

"Oh? I guess, I mean. I don't know, it's all so fast and-" Matt was once more interrupted by the matter-of-fact voice of John.

"You have the time we're here to think about it but I warn you. It's either my place or I'm going to find your parents and make them take you back." John smiled almost evilly at the other.

Matt gave a half smile, not wanting to bring down the easy mood with the almost 'party-foul' statement that his parents were dead. It seemed that John knew what he wanted and he went for it like a dog on a bone when he got a good hold on it.

"Well, thank you. Thank you so much John." Matt replied, he let his head lower slightly, his neck relaxed as a small smile adorned his face.

"No problem guy, it's the least I can do. Considering I did do a fair bit o' damage to your original place. It'd be downright inhuman to not take in a fellow man when his dice are rollin'." John gave his infamous smirk that just guaranteed a good outcome and sometimes a broken bone or three.

"Yeah." Matt didn't really believe in human kindness. He'd grown up always just rolling along seeing both the slums of life and its beauty but never being really touched until his parents had died. He'd started to see the ugly side of human race. John was one of those gloriously simple people who were just inherently good even if they didn't really see it themselves.

"Now, stop worrying and go back to sleep." John urged his roommate, wanting to get back to sleep himself.

"Alright." Matt replied, settling himself down into the starchy sheets. Even if they rubbed against him in weird, super uncomfortable ways, they seemed just a tad more welcoming this time.

* * *

"Wake up! Medication!" Matt jerked awake with a twinge from his leg from the sudden movement.

"Agh." He complained, covering his eyes from the glare of the sun that had just broken into the bleak white room.

The nurse had thrown open the cheap clothe curtains and was now busing herself with shaking different coloured pills and tablets into John's hand and then shoving a cup of water into the other.

"Your turn." She turned to Matt who gave her a tragic look as he saw her take out a larger paper cup. That usually boded badly due to the fact they were probably going to force him to start taking horse sized pills and a lot at the looks of it.

"Can't I take them one at a time or something?" Matt pleaded with her as she shook two smaller white capsules into the cup. They plunked forebodingly against the side as she shook her head.

"It's better to just get it over with. You don't want to be sitting here for an hour, drinking so much water you'll explode, will ya? Besides, I have a few new patients to look after, the nursing staff is being cut at the worse time." She grumbled, shaking another tablet into the cup.

Matt felt almost like pouting. He'd never liked taking his daily vitamins when he was a kid, the Flintstone chalky things had scarred him for life. He'd use to stick it under his tongue, insist he had a hair on his tongue and then gone to the trash and pretended to fish out this hair from nowhere and then throw out the grotesque vitamin. Matt was pretty sure that his parents knew what he was up, but they did nothing to stop him and Matt usually felt pretty good about his wily self.

"Hnph." Matt could hear an unhappy sigh from the bed near his as John gulped down his own medication, washing it down with more lukewarm water. What was it with hospitals and not being able to provide cold water to drink? It seemed so basic but apparently it was a miracle they still couldn't provide.

"Here ya go, and drink all of the water. We'll be taking you off of IV fluids today so you need to keep up your intake alright?" The nurse didn't wait for an answer but shoved the paper cup into his right hand and the clear plastic one filled with lukewarm water into his left.

"Cheers." Matt grumped unhappily and tipped the large amount of pills into his mouth before gulping down them and the water with an exaggerated grimace of pain.

"Oh c'mon now. It's not like I made you swallow poison." The nurse laughed to herself as she pushed the cart of pills and bottles away to the next room.

"Tasty right?" John commented from the side and Matt just sighed in reply. He hated it here already.

* * *

"Hey!" John exclaimed loudly as a warm body flew into his side.

"Don't let her know I'm here!" A frantic voice whispered, the person squatting down behind the bed.

"Hey! Have either of you two seen a young male, brown hair, average height running around here!? He's got a concussion and he needs rest and water." A nurse panted at the door, her hair in disarray as if she'd been in a small tussle.

"Uhm. Nope." John replied simply and the nurse jogged away muttering darkly about 'troubling patients' and 'tiresome'.

"Thanks man, I owe ya one." The 'concussed' teen said, standing from his hiding place.

"Yeah, whatever. What are you doing? You might really be hurt." John asked matter-of-factly, pinning the brunette with a fierce glare.

Flinching, he rubbed his arm from behind with the other while looking down. "I couldn't stand being in that room by myself anymore. My parents went home last night and I feel fine." He looked a little bashful, but straightforward none-the-less.

"Hey, you're that kid who got in a car crash last night, right?" Matt spoke up from his bed, where he'd been reading a magazine when the commotion started.

"Yeah, I guess. You heard that then?" The teen visibly looked uncomfortable now.

"Uh huh. Kinda hard not to when you're practically yelling." Matt teased the other with a raised eyebrow.

"I was not being THAT loud, thanks very much. Was I being that loud? I wasn't that loud!" he looked to John for encouragement, and then without waiting, told Matt again with a look of rightful indignation.

"Yeah, yeah." Matt laughed and then gestured for the other to take a seat in one of the wooden square chairs that resided between John and his beds.

"So a car crash, huh? What'd ya do?" Matt smiled, folding his magazine and slipping it onto the table behind the now sitting young man.

"I didn't do ANYTHING. Bar- the other guy hit me! He T-boned me right in the middle of an intersection!" the young man complained loudly.

"Right. So what's your name? I never caught it." Matt asked, beginning to like the younger man.

"Oh right, right. The name's Sam. Sam Whitwicky. What's yours?" Sam replied with a crooked grin.

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

83 If you don't already know, the other story intersecting with LFDH is Transformers. GO WATCH IF YOU HAVE NOT. Sam is up for the picking for pairings! Him and whoever you want. Most votes for a pairing wins! Also, this crossover is not AU, it literally just crosses over as if both these stories exist in the same world. **ALSO**; I am in need of a beta. NOTE OR EMAIL ME IF YOU ARE INTERESTED PLZ.

* * *

**_Simplicity and its Faults_**

_Chapter Six_

* * *

"Hey Sam, I'm Matt and over there is John. So, what happened then?" Matt leaned forward; wondering why this teen was so uptight and seemed to be on edge now. He has brushed over their names quick enough and eagerly leaned forward to hear more.

"Well, I was T-boned by another car. I had the right of way but I guess the other guy didn't see it." Sam looked down, hiding his eyes from sight.

"Or he was out for ya." John chuckled to himself and Sam flinched as if he'd been hit.

"You alright kid?" John lifted a brow as the other wrapped his arms around himself. A bit of a strange reaction for someone that had been so nonchalant about being hit by another car.

"Yeah….yeah, I'm alright. Just was thinking. My car's really expensive. I wonder when I can go see hi-….it." Sam seemed to stutter over his words. Matt didn't think anything of it, due to his more urgent interest in the type of car Sam owned.

"Expensive? What kind of car? Year?" he asked excitedly.

"Oh, yeah. It's a 2008/2009 Chevy Camaro. Yellow, black racing stripes. He's awesome." A goofy expression crossed Sam's face as the obvious adoration for his car blazed through him. His eyes lit up and his entire body seemed to open up in a way that showed his genuine joy for his car.

"Ah, that is awesome. Damn, that sounds nice. How could you afford something like that!?" Matt asked, heart blackening a little in jealousy. He'd never had the money or the support to get a nice car. He'd adored them from the sidewalk always as a gawking kid whenever someone would roar past in their expensive foreign cars.

"Isn't that one of those new cars that cost at least an arm, a leg, and a bit of soul?" John piped up from the back, grumping at how he wasn't included in the conversation.

"Yeah, yeah. But Sam! When we get out of here, you have GOT to treat me to a ride. Fairs fair right? We hid you, you take me for a go!" Matt smiled at his quick thinking. He was already beginning to map out the possibilities of getting to ride in such an excellent car.

"Right, yeah. Maybe!" Sam grinned back at him. John mumbled darkly as it seemed two younger men seemed to be bonding over machines. It wasn't like John liked his fair share of automobiles but he was more into guns rather than death traps.

John crossed his arms over his chest and snorted as the other occupants of the room continued to gossip like teenage girls at their first sleep over. Matt seemed to have that personality that easily attracted attention and held friendships easily. John had a more 'rough around the edges' kind of attraction to him and he never kept friends that easily. Hell, he'd lost his wife, son and had been just a hair's breadth away from loosing Lucy. Something told him that he couldn't let go of Matt, he was John's last chance at sanity.

"So what are you into?" Sam asked Matt, making small talk. He wanted to steer the conversation away from his car, even if he did like to boast about it. He found himself slipping on his wording from time to time if he didn't watch himself.

"Oh, well. A little a' this, a little a' that. I know a bit about computers so I work as a hacker from time to time. The legal kind though." Matt assured the kid, taking a glance at John, not wanting to rock their still shaky work relationship.

If John found out that Matt liked to hack for the Government from time to time, he'd go ballistic, he was sure. He'd done a few things he wasn't proud of in the technological world but hadn't done so in a while.

In fact, only a few months earlier, the government itself had requested his presence at some meeting. They had wanted top quality hackers, programmers, and all around tech junkies. It was all very 'hush, hush' but it had not tickled Matt's fancy in the slightest. When he tried to do a little research on the project, he had come up with nothing. Like it didn't even exist. On the internet, that was always a bad thing. It meant either it was a scam or that it was so wrapped up in red tape that you would get sucked in without a second thought like other poor fools who accidently stepped too near that trap. He'd only avoided being pulled into it by his job involving the Firesale but no one had to really know about that.

"Oh…really? Well, how's that work out?" Sam looked a bit shaky on Matt's answer, and Matt furrowed his brows.

"You alright? Technology not your thing?" Matt jested.

"Naw, it's just that. I dunno, did you hear about this big hack thing a few months back?" Sam gave him a pleading expression.

"Ya know, I did. It was something to do with the Government, wasn't it? I didn't get involved with that, too many questions if you ask me." Matt assured the other. Maybe Sam was the anti-Government type. He'd known quite a few of fanatics that spent most of their time being surly and covering their trails technologically and sometimes physically.

"Ah. Yeah." Sam looked away, not wanting to betray his position on the subject.

"Did you work for it?" Matt couldn't help but ask, the night and day responses had him curious.

"No, not really. I just was involved with some of the people who did work with them." Sam let out his breath in relief. He really didn't want people to know that he was basically the crutch for the most recent war. On an intergalactic scale even.

"Oh? …. So I take it you're from around here?" Matt changed the conversation, realizing that questions were making the other uncomfortable.

"Eh, sorta." The two continued to talk, enjoying each other's company.

* * *

John scowled at his wall, getting sick of the chattering birds in his room. What was wrong with them? Did they have to go over every point and detail of the latest movie or show or whatever it was they were squealing about? John stretched his arms out in front of him, cracking his wrists and elbows before pushing himself up from the cardboard masquerading as a bed.

"Water." John mumbled as he walked past the two younger men, slightly insulted that they didn't stop to even ask where he was going. Matt just lifted a hand in acknowledgement and continued his tired about who would win in a brawl, Sam or Dean.

John looked out into the pristine hall, scanning his surroundings. He didn't see a water fountain in this vicinity, but in reality he didn't really care. He just needed to get out of that stuffy room.

Looking left and then right, John started strolling down the left hallway, certain that he could find his way back. Getting to a sitting area, he spotted a few nurses bent over some magazine behind the counter. Rolling his eyes, John walked past them and continued on his way down the hallway. The identical rooms seemed fairly empty considering the size of the hospital and the major recent pileups. It was possible that most of the patients could have been moved to a different hospital to allow the patients of the Firesale crisis to rest and recuperate in peace.

"Hmph," John huffed to himself, if that was true…why was the little chatter monkey 'Sam' here as well?

"Sir? Are you looking for your room?" A feminine voice asked, and John turned. Seeing a young woman he automatically stood a little straighter.

His upbringing had included manners and customs being ingrained into him. You stood up when a woman entered or left the room, you held doors open for them, so on and so forth. Unless, of course, she was trying to kill you. Then you had every right to do so much as to run them over! John chuckled under his breath at the memory but then surveyed the girl.

"No, I'm looking for a water fountain. Are you looking for something?" John asked, seeing that the woman was not wearing scrubs or a nametag to indicate she worked here.

The young woman was fairly tall, maybe a five feet, ten or eleven? She was quite slim as well as having long brunette hair. She was wearing a pair of khaki pants with some sparkly bit at the hip. She also sported a jean jacket and a sleeveless green shirt. It had some obscure logo on it, but what really interested John was the obvious car grease that adorned her hands and a swipe of it covering her cheek.

"Ah, well. I am looking for someone. My name is Mikaela." She offered her hand, but then looked down and blushed as she realized that it was more than a bit dirty.

"Oh, sorry. I was, ah. Working on my car. Flat tire." She blurted out, wringing her hands together.

"No problem, I'm John. Come on, my room has a sink you can use." John rolled his eyes as they turned the way that they'd come.

She was pretty enough, but was bashful at the simple sight of grime and dirt. Turning back the way he came, he sighed to himself. He had just wanted to get out of the room but instead he'd just been drawn back again.

Tromping into his room at last, John gestured to the sink just as Mikaela gasped.

"Sam! What are you doing here!?" Mikaela ran to the boy next to Matt's bed, a look of worry and caution etched into her face.

"Mika!" John raised a brow, Sam had pronounced her name with the "I" sounding like the "I" in "ick" rather than the "I" in "Mike". It was a sickeningly cute nickname and it grated on his ears. Almost flinching visibly, John let his arm fall away from the sink. So much for his good deed of the day.

"Sam, your parents have been calling me nonstop! They think I spirited you away to my house or Mexico or some such ridiculousness." The young woman snorted in indignation.

"Urgh," Sam grunted, dropping his face to his hands.

His parents insisted on babying him like they had throughout his life ever since Jump City. His parents hadn't been fully briefed on the situation but they knew enough that he had been quite a lot of danger and still very well could be.

"You shouldn't be hiding from them! They only want to help, what with Bumbl-" Sam flinched and dove across the room, almost body slamming the thinner woman.

"Mikaela!" Sam fretted, pushing her from the room, he muttered at her as he pulled her into the hallway and out of the two other men's sight.

"Well, that was…strange. She's rather smokin' to be with Sam." Matt laughed good naturedly.

"Hm." John didn't really have his eye on jail-bait, nor did he care to be looking at any female in the most recent months. He'd been too busy with work, the unfamiliar pains in his joints and the pang in his chest somewhere whenever he saw his graying hair in the mirror.

"You gotta admit," Matt left the sentence hanging, waiting for John to reply.

"I admit she's just barely eighteen, you had better keep your eyes to yourself." John felt a bit protective of the strange woman. She reminded him if not in looks but strong spirit of his own daughter.

"Yeah, yeah." Mat smiled almost like he'd expected the response.

A warm feeling spilt into the younger man's gut, spreading and grabbing as it went. The grizzly older man 'harrumphed' and went to go sit in his bed. Matt wondered if the other ever had a single dirty thought. Maybe about some strange woman on a bus, or a passer-by on the street. Would John think about her as he was by himself at night? Matt felt his heart thump as his thoughts veered off from the normal thought pattern.

_'Okay, okay. That's enough of that.'_ But the thought was like pine sap in his mind. Sticky and clinging to every surface it could find. Invading his cells, Matt couldn't help but recall John's scrunched face in concentration, wondering what kind of woman fit his fancy. The elite women with long silk dresses? The party girl with a short pink skirt? Maybe the college nerd with glasses and a pony tail but willing to give you the ride of your life with the right concoction of Mike's Lime and dimmed lights.

Matt felt his ears burn as he tried to shake his head. The images wouldn't stop rolling through his mind like a strange parade, giving him all sorts of possibilities, but the only constant was John's back in front of him. Not to unlike when the man had protected him from gun fire or even a truck barreling down on them.

"Hey, guys? I have to go call my parents. I'll see ya around alright? Matt, you've got my number!" Sam poked his head back into the room, startling the young computer hacker out of his impromptu daze.

"O-oh. Yeah! Alright, good luck man!" Matt flipped a hand up to the other and watched as he and the girl left.

The distraction was welcome but now he was alone with the man who for some reason wouldn't stop parading around his head. Matt assured himself, he was just interested in the more gruff man's life. He seemed so alien to modern ways of life and seemed more like he belonged in some nethanderal show. Smiling at the mental image, he picked up his new Sudoku book. He'd just loose himself in his puzzles for a while.

* * *


End file.
